Given that captain César Azpilicueta, star defender Antonio Rudiger and reliable Andreas Christensen are all yet to agree on new deals with the club, Chelsea could face a potential transfer dilemma during the next transfer window. The Blues are fast approaching a defensive headache even though Thiago Silva signed up for another season already and Malang Sarr has featured more in recent games. Rudiger wishes to become among the highest-paid players at the club and his new salary is a particular sticking point. Spanish skipper Azpilicueta and Dane Christensen have both been on Barcelona’s radar for a while now.The clock is ticking for the Premier League clubs – what they wish they could do before the gong hits?Since she became Chelsea director in 2013, Marina Granovskaia did her share of great transfer moves. Now, with AFCON in full swing, there are players who imposed themselves as targets for Chelsea’s ‘iron lady’.It comes as no surprise at all that Paris Saint-Germain’s Achraf Hakimi has been on the Russian’s wish list for a while now and that Thomas Tuchel would love to have the Moroccan at his disposal. Hakimi snubbed Chelsea to join PSG during the past transfer window has but the fact that he has been hailed as one of the best young talents in world football for the past few years attracts Chelsea to try again. Granovskaia does not give up that easy so it should be expected for the Stamford Bridge club to go after the 23-year-old at least one more time.AFCON 2021: Club colleagues closer to clashing in the continental tournament finalsWith the Blues struggling at full-back, no thanks to the long-term injuries to both Reece James and Ben Chilwell, Granovskaia would have to go big in order to land the former Inter defender, but it could be now or never given Tuchel’s hopes of silverware this season.In Morocco’s 2-1 win on Tuesday against Malawi, Hakimi scored a belter of a free-kick and his confidence lately is through the roof. The French giants paid 80 million USD for Hakimi – one of the strongest in his position nowadays.Sun, 18.00: (3.40) EGYPT (2.95) MOROCCO (2.55)The next player in line is operating a bit more upfront, someone who is more of an attacking flank man but can perform great defensively – Villareal’s Nigerian Samuel Chukwueze.Given his recent links to the club, Chelsea fans are familiar with the winger – he is lightning-fast and tricky and is enjoying a fruitful 2021/22 campaign with Villarreal, netting five times already this season for the Yellow Submarines.At AFCON, however, the 22-year-old and his Nigeria were eliminated from the competition by Tunisia and a hurtful 1-0 defeat. Chukwueze managed to score for the Super Eagles in his side’s 3-1 win over Sudan last week.Hero’s welcome for kind soul Rudiger as he touches down in Sierra LeoneThe least resonating of the lot but far from unattractive is Burkinabe defender Edmond Tapsoba. The 22-year-old Bayer Leverkusen player has long been watched by a whole host of Premier League clubs – reportedly attracting interest from Arsenal and Manchester United also.Tapsoba returned to the Burkina Faso team following their opening game defeat to Cameroon and the Stallions haven’t lost since – his national team is now into the quarter-finals of the tournament.The Pharmacists’ defender has vital Champions League experience already and would be a welcome addition should the Blues wish to further explore his availability later this year. He is under contract until 2026 and Transfermarkt values him a bit shy of 50 million USD. Sat, 22.00: (3.60) BURKINA FASO (3.00) TUNISIA (2.40)
